Midnight Bell 7
To those unaware of the inside story, Tingfeng Pavilion is just a teahouse, and a high-end, elegant one at that.
To see the other side of him, you need some connections, either high-ranking officials or someone to introduce you. Xie Mowen had neither, so he could only pretend to be a tea drinker and sit down in the hall.
According to their investigation, not all the victims had been to Tingfeng Pavilion, but the murder times of the few who had been to Tingfeng Pavilion coincided with their frequent visits to the pavilion.
Xie Mowen pretended to be alone, ordered a pot of fine pre-Qingming Longjing tea, and idly drank the tea while observing the people coming and going.
Judging from his eyesight, at least half of the people in the hall were there for the brothel business behind them, since they looked rushed and didn't seem to be there to have a proper tea.
Having roughly made his judgment, Xie Mowen casually stopped one of them: "Hey, brother!"
The young man who was stopped was in his early thirties, so fat he looked almost square. Hearing someone call out to him, he stopped in confusion, but was quite good-natured, asking, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, I find it rather unpleasant to drink tea alone. I'd like to invite you, brother, to join me."
The square-shaped guy wasn't in a hurry, so he nodded in agreement and then sat down next to Xie Mowen with a 'thud'.
Yang Yanshu, who was observing from a short distance away, was puzzled: "Why choose this person? He doesn't look like a high-ranking official or nobleman."
“Hmm…” Xiao Congzhi stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, then said, “Perhaps he’s choosing a handsome man, and Brother Mo is afraid I’ll mind.”
The next moment, Yang Yanshu looked at Xiao Congzhi as if he were a ghost. Xiao Congzhi chuckled and said, "Don't be so tense. Relax and trust him."
Despite saying that, Xiao Congzhi's brows did not relax at all.
Jiang Xu wrinkled his nose in confusion.
After sitting down, the square-shaped guy immediately introduced himself enthusiastically: "My name is Hering."
"Mo, Mo Huan. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Herlin waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to be polite. He poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, and sighed, "This is top-grade Longjing tea, excellent tea!"
"Hahaha, this is exactly what I like."
Herlin clicked his tongue twice and lowered his voice, saying, "It's fate that we've met today. Let me tell you, you should drink tea at the White Building in the north of the city. The prices there are fair, while the prices here are ridiculously high."
Xie Mowen coughed lightly, then tentatively asked, "Brother He, what brings you here for tea?"
"Hey!" Hering was a big mouth. "This isn't a proper place to drink tea. There are other fun things to do here."
Xie Mowen thought to himself that he had carefully selected this fat man because he thought he was easy to talk to, but he didn't expect him to be this easy to talk to. He pressed his advantage and pretended to be curious: "What? Then tell me, I'm bored."
"That depends on whether you like it or not."
"How so?"
"Haha, Tingfeng Pavilion is actually a brothel, with many beautiful women kept in the back."
"What?!" Xie Mowen feigned shock.
"Oh! You don't know this, do you? I only got in through a friend's introduction. Otherwise, how would I have known? Actually, Tingfeng Pavilion is just a brothel that's been repackaged to be more elegant, attracting those with high standards and big spending power. So the women there are more refined than those outside."
Xie Mowen nodded, a look of interest in his eyes.
“I knew Brother Mo would be interested, you know, men will be men!” Herlin raised an eyebrow. “Actually, Tingfeng Pavilion is quite well-known outside of Anling. It’s spread by word of mouth, so every year quite a few people come from other places to visit.”
"I'm interested, but I don't know how to get in, so does that mean I have no chance?"
"Hey! Isn't that what you call 'Brother Mo's' connections?" Herlin patted Xie Mowen's shoulder with his chubby hand. "After all, Tingfeng Pavilion is all about making money. It's not strict about customer flow. As long as you have a friend's introduction and can afford the money, you can do it."
"I see. But it's not dark yet, so should we wait a little longer?"
"No need, no need!" Herlin waved his hand, beckoned the waiter over, and said magnanimously, "Go and get the roster."
The waiter glanced at Helin and then at Xie Mowen, then left without saying anything more.
"This phrase is a code word, used to tell the shopkeeper that you're not here for tea. Then they'll check the back office, and once they find you, they'll get the roster, and you can choose a girl."
"I see. That's convenient. If I have a good time on this trip, I'll thank you very much, Brother He."
"You're welcome!"
Ji Buyu, engrossed in watching the show while sipping tea, teased without missing the opportunity, "Brother Mo, your acting is superb. Could it be that you're an expert in this art?"
Yang Yanshu almost spat out his tea.
Xiao Congzhi glanced helplessly at Ji Buyu, but said without any burden, "He's familiar with brothels, so he should be familiar with them too."
Yang Yanshu actually spat out his tea. He scrambled to his feet, then turned to see Jiang Xu reacting even more violently, pointing at Xiao Congzhi and stammering, "Wh...what? Brother Mo, could it be...?"
Ji Buyu hummed softly, "How can you be so blind?"
Seeing that everyone knew the news, including Yun Shaocheng and Ji Zhou who were sitting opposite them and didn't have close ties with them, Jiang Xu began to fall into deep self-doubt.
Seeing Jiang Xu glaring at him, Ji Zhou nodded sheepishly: "I could tell from the Meridian Bridge that Young Master Mo and Young Master Xiao have a very close relationship."
The next moment, Jiang Xu also spat out a mouthful of tea. He looked up awkwardly and saw Xiao Congzhi looking at him with a half-smile. He immediately wished he could bury himself and forgot all about being surprised.
While they were joking around, the waiter had already handed over the roster.
This was the main event. Xiao Congzhi stopped smiling and stared in Xie Mowen's direction, his expression growing increasingly serious.
Xie Mowen flipped through the roster, occasionally exchanging a few words with Helin. Unsure of Helin's tastes, Xie Mowen didn't dare to say too much at this moment, only commenting on their appearances.
Herlin's tastes were always the same; he got impatient halfway through choosing, gulped down a mouthful of bitter tea, and apologized, "Why don't you take your time choosing, Brother Mo? I'll go play first."
Xie Mowen was delighted. After Helin left in a hurry, Xie Mowen turned his attention to the waiter, secretly slipped him a gold ingot, and asked meaningfully, "Do you have anything more exciting here?"
The waiter was taken aback for a moment, then quickly put away the gold ingots and replied obsequiously, "Yes, yes, we have ropes, whips, and candles all available in the room. Please feel free to play with them."
Xie Mowen clicked his tongue twice inwardly, surprised that Tingfeng Pavilion was so well-prepared. He lowered his voice further and asked, "This... won't there be any problems, will there?"
The waiter hesitated for a moment, but reassured him for the sake of Jin Yuanbao, "Don't worry, as long as no one dies, we can cover it up."
Xie Mowen coughed twice and asked, "What if someone dies?"
The waiter was instantly terrified, his eyes darting around, unsure of what to say.
Xie Mowen patted the waiter on the shoulder and stuffed a gold ingot into his hand: "I don't want to make things difficult for you. Go and ask around. If someone's death can be covered up, I'll pay for one. If not, forget it. Too many people have died in my bed, so I want to be careful."
For the sake of the two gold ingots, the waiter gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, I'll go ask for you."
After the waiter left, Xie Mowen turned his head and nodded slightly in Xiao Congzhi's direction.
He had just been flipping through the roster and spotted the woman from the Meridian Bridge, whose name was Xuan. Her portrait was on the first page, marked as unspecified, so Xie Mowen was planning to lure her out using underhanded tactics.
Xie Mowen couldn't tell whether this underhanded trick would work or not. If it didn't, he would wait until he entered the private rooms area and then come out to search for the person under cover of night. However, this operation would be even more dangerous, and he estimated that Xiao Congzhi would not agree to it.
Fortunately, perseverance pays off. When the waiter came out, a woman followed behind him. Who else could it be but Miss Xuan!
Xie Mowen immediately put on a lewd and obscene expression, staring at Miss Xuan and laughing.
To be honest, Miss Xuan was indeed beautiful, with a small, fair face, delicate features, and an extraordinary temperament. She also exuded a fragrance with every move she made.
The waiter smiled and said to Xie Mowen, "Our Miss Xuan is willing to serve you, sir. Miss Xuan is experienced and will not make any mistakes."
Xie Mowen nodded with a wicked smile, and as Miss Xuan approached, his hands had already touched her slender waist in an extremely erotic manner.
Xuan's waist went limp, and she fell onto Xie Mowen's lap. Her soft arms wrapped around Xie Mowen's neck, her thin lips parted slightly, and her peach blossom eyes lowered, exuding extreme charm.
"Miss Xuan is indeed skilled in this art." Xie Mo said, but his hands stopped moving. In truth, he was conflicted. He could have continued, letting Miss Xuan lead him to the side room, where he could have investigated what method this person had used to kill. As long as he didn't make a move, Xiao Congzhi would help hold off the others, no matter how nervous he was...
Indeed, everyone in the spectator stands was watching Xiao Congzhi, and even Jiang Xu dared not speak rashly, observing Xiao Congzhi's expression.
Yang Yanshu couldn't help but ask, "Is it this person?"
"Right, otherwise it wouldn't have come to this..." Jiang Xu suddenly covered his mouth, then opened it a crack, "Brother Xiao, is this alright?"
Xiao Congzhi was very tense. He knew Xie Mowen's plan perfectly well. If they made a move here, it would be like stirring up trouble and alerting the enemy. If they couldn't catch the person or get anything out of him, they would be unable to bring him to justice.
The risk of turning the tables is too high…
Never mind. Xie Mowen thought.
The next moment, Xie Mowen's hand turned into a claw, grabbed Miss Xuan's shoulder, lifted her up, and flung her backward toward Xiao Congzhi and the others.
Xiao Congzhi and the others immediately reacted and, amidst the waiter's exclamations, began to fight with Miss Xuan.
After being thrown away, Miss Xuan made some guesses about the origins of the group. After all, the story of the investigation into the Midnight Bell case in Anling was widely known among martial arts figures, so she focused on dealing with it.
On the other side, there was only Miss Xuan. After the fight broke out, all the tea drinkers, waiters, and shopkeepers ran away. On this side, there were seven people, each with high martial arts skills.
After fighting for a long time, Xiao Congzhi and the others still hadn't gained the upper hand. Miss Xuan seemed to be playing around, teasing and hitting without hurting anyone or being hurt herself. After a short while, her complexion remained normal, while several martial arts masters had already broken out in a cold sweat.
Xie Mowen took another palm strike from Miss Xuan, but after deflecting it, Xiao Congzhi caught it. Xiao Congzhi said in a deep voice, "This can't go on. She's dragging us down until we're exhausted."
Xie Mowen gritted his teeth and said unwillingly, "If we let her go here, we won't have another chance."
Ji Buyu ran over, swinging his whisk, and exclaimed, "That makes sense, but even if I cultivated for another hundred years, I still couldn't beat her!!"
Jiang Xu was knocked flying and landed at Ji Buyu's feet: "Why are you boosting the morale of others while diminishing your own?"
"What?" Miss Xuan spun around, throwing Ji Zhou and Yang Yanshu away as well. She sat gracefully on the second-floor railing, looking down at the crowd below, and said softly, "If you want to leave, please do so. I won't see you off."
Jiang Xu sat up abruptly, sitting on the ground, furious. He asked Xie Mowen, "Brother Mo, do you have any ideas? For example, should we attack together, or transfer our internal energy to the same person?"
Xie Mowen rubbed his head, looking exasperated. "Our combined internal energy isn't even as good as hers. Besides, when did internal energy become cumulative? Have you been reading too many romance novels?"
"What should we do then?!"
Xie Mowen stepped forward, amplifying his voice with his inner strength, making it resound throughout the space: "Miss Xuan, answer one question for me, and then we will leave."
"Of the twenty-three unsolved cases before the Midnight Bell, we have investigated most of them. The victims all deserved their fates. Ignoring the law, but solely based on the code of chivalry, this is a righteous act, and we admire it. But… what have the Kunlun disciples done!"
At this point, Xie Mowen became somewhat agitated, his inner strength surged, and his voice became unsteady for a moment. You see, he wanted to say directly that those were his disciples of the Demonic Sect, and that it was not an outsider's place to teach them a lesson!
Ji Zhou spoke up at this moment, sweating profusely and panting heavily, but he managed to shout, "He's only fourteen!"
With a flick of her sleeve, Miss Xuan sent a gust of wind straight at Ji Zhou, who was already on the verge of exhaustion and fainted completely. Miss Xuan merely glanced at him indifferently and said coldly, "He is only fourteen, but his methods are quite unruly. He came to Tingfeng Pavilion because of its reputation and caused the young lady in the pavilion to bleed to death."
"Nonsense!" Xie Mowen clenched his fist and said hatefully, "Miss Xuan, your martial arts are superb and your inner strength is like the sea. I am no match for you today, but who knows what will happen in ten years? If there is no answer to the death of Dong Jing, I will chase you to the ends of the earth."
Xiao Congzhi glanced at Yang Yanshu and Jiang Xu. According to the plan, Xie Mowen's identity would eventually be revealed to these two. However, at this moment, Xie Mowen's words were all driven by emotion and were not part of his calculations. Xiao Congzhi couldn't immediately tell whether now was the right time.
Ji Buyu glanced at Yun Shaocheng. In his opinion, Jiang Xu already greatly admired Xie Mowen, and Yang Yanshu also trusted Xie Mowen a lot. It wouldn't be a big problem if Xie Mowen's identity as the leader of the Demonic Sect was exposed, but Yun Shaocheng was a member of the Martial Alliance. If he were exposed, the risks would be immeasurable.
Xiao Congzhi and Ji Buyu, each with their own plans, also uttered a few words to cover for Xie Mowen, but before they could speak, Miss Xuan floated down from the second floor.
"What Dongjing?" Miss Xuan's expression finally changed from its previous indifferent and cold demeanor, and a hint of panic appeared.
Xie Mowen frowned and looked at Miss Xuan, saying each word clearly: "Dong Jing, Dong as in winter, Jing as in Wang Yusijing. The last victim appeared on Ziwu Bridge two days ago."
Miss Xuan was completely stunned. She raised her hand in disbelief and did some calculations with her fingers...
Dong Jing and Dong Xu are twins, one soul in two bodies; she made a mistake.
Xiao Congzhi moved closer to Xie Mowen. The change in Miss Xuan's expression was so drastic that it almost confirmed their suspicions.
Dong Jing was killed by mistake.
Xie Mowen couldn't hold back any longer. He stepped forward and asked in a resentful voice, "Do you have anything to say?"
Miss Xuan, looking utterly defeated, slumped to the ground and asked Xie Mowen, "Kunlun, which one of you is from Kunlun?"
Ji Buyu pointed at Ji Zhou: "Uh, this one..."
Miss Xuan waved her sleeve again, and this time a gentle breeze blew by, and Ji Zhou slowly awoke.
"Dongxu, you should know that I came to Anling a few days ago?"
Ji Zhou nodded blankly. He and his group had arrived four days earlier, following Young Hero Yun.
“He came to Tingfeng Pavilion that very night. No one introduced him; he got in by paying money. I wasn’t there that day, but even if I had, I couldn’t have stopped him. He chose a virgin who was only sixteen years old, inexperienced, and unaware of the danger.”
Ji Zhou was increasingly confused. He felt dizzy for a moment. How did Miss Xuan start telling stories after he woke up?!?
"Don't doubt my words. That day, Dongxu threw down an object, a piece of white jade, saying it was a family heirloom, to be used to pay for that person's life."
Ji Zhou was no longer confused. The white jade piece carved with koi fish was indeed a family heirloom that Dong Xu had. What Miss Xuan said... was probably true.
"Dongxu was only fourteen, but he was ruthless. He used a dagger to slash open the girl's genitals. When I arrived the next day, the girl had just died, and her genitals were a bloody mess, a truly gruesome sight."
So the very next night I decided to take Dongxu's soul.
When Miss Xuan finished speaking, everyone's expressions became more serious, and then it was time to get down to business.
"The bell that rang at midnight originated from the Soul-Hooking Bell, an ancient divine object. As long as one knows a person's birth date and time, one can hook their soul no matter how far away they are. The body moves with the soul and is at the mercy of others." Miss Xuan sighed. "I usually ask for the birth date and time before taking action, but I was too angry that day, so I calculated Dongxu's birth date and time."
Xie Mowen closed his eyes tightly.
“I don’t know why I made a mistake. I was in such a hurry that day that I didn’t realize that Dongxu had twin brothers. But I just recalculated and found that although Dongxu and Dongjing are twins, they were born a whole hour apart. I should have used Dongxu’s birth chart.”
“Because they changed their names.” Ji Zhou stood up with Ji Buyu’s help, his face full of sorrow. “It was when they were young that Dong Xu suggested it, saying that he didn’t like the character Jing and wanted to use Xu.”
"I'm sorry." Miss Xuan walked up to Ji Zhou, bowed deeply in apology, and straightened up. She said, "I will tell you everything, and then you can do whatever you want with me."
What followed was a short story, but it explained many mysteries and involved a great deal of people.
It turns out that many years ago, Miss Xuan was not alone. She had a Daoist partner. In their early years, the two of them enjoyed searching for ancient books and studying the Dao of Immortality from a thousand years ago.
Although the world has entered the Dharma-ending Age, these cultivation techniques are still beneficial for strengthening the body, prolonging life, and improving martial arts skills.
The two enjoyed traveling around. Miss Xuan was fiercely opposed to evil and had a restless nature, while her Daoist partner was much more peaceful and could help comfort Miss Xuan.
Years ago, when they visited Xiacheng, Miss Xuan was tricked by Qian Lin into placing a curse on Xu Tan's wife. By the time Miss Xuan realized something was amiss, it was too late. She could only ask her Daoist partner to intervene and exchange his life for hers to temporarily lift the curse.
At that time, Miss Xuan and her Daoist partner had a quarrel. When she left in a hurry, she accidentally left behind an ancient book, which was the book that Qian Lin later found to cultivate spiritual arts.
As Miss Xuan spoke, Xiao Congzhi and Xie Mowen exchanged a glance. After the Qian Lin case ended, they always felt that the curse and the ancient book were strange, but they never expected that there was really a story behind it.
After that, Xuan's Daoist partner left first, and Xuan settled down in Anling. Without her Daoist partner to comfort her, Xuan often found herself unable to tolerate the various things happening in the city, and felt depressed.
Anling is located in a remote area, far from the reach of the emperor, and has a high crime rate to begin with. Although the county magistrate is conscientious and responsible, there are many things that the law cannot cover. The trigger was the cloth merchant who kept more than thirty women, which led Miss Xuan to embark on the path of using the midnight bell to eliminate evil and wickedness...
After Miss Xuan finished speaking, everyone present fell into an unusual silence. What broke the silence was the government officials... Xing Haotian personally led a team of yamen runners to arrive.
The one who reported it to the authorities was the manager of Tingfeng Pavilion.
Upon receiving a report that several martial arts figures were fighting in the pavilion, Xing Haotian keenly sensed that it was related to the Midnight Bell, so he rushed over in person.
Upon entering, Xing Haotian recognized many familiar faces and knew he had made the right choice.
Yun Shaocheng took the initiative to assume the role of negotiating and explaining.
I won't go into too much detail about Miss Xuan's journey, but Yun Shaocheng focused on the whole story of the Midnight Bell and the accidental killing of Dong Jing.
Xing Haotian stepped into the crowd and, as always, asked the key question: "So, this matter has nothing to do with that demonic sect?"
Everyone kept their eyes down, not daring to look at Xie Mowen. Yun Shaocheng forced himself to admit, "Yes, although we haven't asked Miss Xuan about the interference technique yet, Dong Jing's death was an accident, and this matter should have nothing to do with the Demonic Sect."
Miss Xuan tilted her head: "Interference techniques aren't difficult; I learned them from ancient books."
Xing Haotian nodded knowingly, standing there deep in thought. This matter involved too many things and was a bit difficult to handle. After a moment, he asked Yun Shaocheng, half-consultingly, "Shall I take this Miss Xuan back first?"
Yun Shaocheng frowned; he couldn't agree to that.
Ji Zhou walked to Yun Shaocheng's side, pursed his lips and looked at Xing Haotian. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Miss Xuan mistakenly killed my sect's disciple. I should take her back."
Xing Haotian nodded, but still said, "This is against the law..."
Hearing this, Jiang Xu became anxious and hurried over to ask, "According to the law, this is punishable by death. Are we really going to deal with it like this?! What about those victimized women?"
Xing Haotian raised his hand and pressed it down, explaining gently, "Brother Jiang, don't worry. I'm not one to be bound by etiquette, but we've caught them red-handed, it wouldn't be right not to bring them back."
Before Jiang Xu could say anything more, Xie Mowen pulled his shoulder, causing him to stagger back two steps. Xie Mowen stepped forward, politely bowed, and then said, "Should we have Lord Xing take the person back first?"
Xie Mowen reached out to stop Jiang Xu and nodded to Ji Zhou, his tone gentle: "Regarding how to deal with Miss Xuan, I think neither Lord Xing nor Brother Ji has a plan yet. Since that's the case, why not give it to the yamen first? But I hope that Lord Xing will consider our efforts and not hold court to decide the case yet, and give us a few days to discuss it."
Xing Haotian frankly said, "Of course it is possible. This matter is complicated, and I need to think about it carefully."
Xie Mowen smiled to express his gratitude, and then said to the others, "To be honest, we couldn't capture Miss Xuan either. It was because of Dong Jing's matter that Miss Xuan voluntarily surrendered. So where she is is not important. Why don't we let Lord Xing take her away first?"
Ji Zhou sighed deeply: "Then let's listen to Young Master Mo. Although Miss Xuan accidentally killed Dong Jing, this disaster was caused by Dong Xu. I can't make the decision myself. We need to wait until Master comes to Anling in a few days to discuss it."
The matter was settled, and Xing Haotian had someone take Miss Xuan away. Ji Zhou took his leave, saying he was going to find Dong Xu. Ji Buyu made an excuse that he had other matters to attend to at his sect and left first. Yang Yanshu and Jiang Xu looked at each other, their minds in turmoil, and left in a hurry without lingering.
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